Book contents
- Medieval Science
- Series page
- Medieval Science
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- General Editors' Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Islamic Culture and the Natural Sciences
- 2 Islamic Mathematics
- 3 THE MIXED MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
- 4 Islamic Astronomy
- 5 MEDICINE IN MEDIEVAL ISLAM
- 6 Science in the Jewish Communities
- 7 SCIENCE IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
- 8 Schools and Universities in Medieval Latin Science
- 9 The Organization of Knowledge
- 10 SCIENCE AND THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH
- 11 Natural Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages
- 12 Early-Medieval Cosmology, Astronomy, and Mathematics
- 13 EARLY-MEDIEVAL MEDICINE AND NATURAL SCIENCE
- 14 Translation and Transmission of Greek and Islamic Science to Latin Christendom
- 15 THE TWELFTH-CENTURY RENAISSANCE
- 16 MEDIEVAL ALCHEMY
- 17 Change and Motion
- 18 Cosmology
- 19 Astronomy and Astrology
- 20 THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT AND COLOR, SEEING AND KNOWING
- 21 Mathematics
- 22 Logic
- 23 GEOGRAPHY
- 24 Medieval Natural History
- 25 ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND MEDICAL THEORY
- 26 Medical Practice
- 27 TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
- Index
17 - Change and Motion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
Book contents
- Medieval Science
- Series page
- Medieval Science
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- General Editors' Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Islamic Culture and the Natural Sciences
- 2 Islamic Mathematics
- 3 THE MIXED MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
- 4 Islamic Astronomy
- 5 MEDICINE IN MEDIEVAL ISLAM
- 6 Science in the Jewish Communities
- 7 SCIENCE IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
- 8 Schools and Universities in Medieval Latin Science
- 9 The Organization of Knowledge
- 10 SCIENCE AND THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH
- 11 Natural Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages
- 12 Early-Medieval Cosmology, Astronomy, and Mathematics
- 13 EARLY-MEDIEVAL MEDICINE AND NATURAL SCIENCE
- 14 Translation and Transmission of Greek and Islamic Science to Latin Christendom
- 15 THE TWELFTH-CENTURY RENAISSANCE
- 16 MEDIEVAL ALCHEMY
- 17 Change and Motion
- 18 Cosmology
- 19 Astronomy and Astrology
- 20 THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT AND COLOR, SEEING AND KNOWING
- 21 Mathematics
- 22 Logic
- 23 GEOGRAPHY
- 24 Medieval Natural History
- 25 ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND MEDICAL THEORY
- 26 Medical Practice
- 27 TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
- Index
Summary
Throughout the Middle Ages, motion and change were seen as the fundamental and immediate expressions of the innate natures of physical things. The genius of Aristotle's definition of motion is that it appeals only to prior and more general metaphysical principles, actuality and potentiality. The ancient atomists Democritus and Leucippus had posited the existence of an empty space or void to allow their atoms to move rather than be fixed motionless against each other. In the tour de force of medieval natural philosophy, Thomas Bradwardine devised a simple rule to govern the relationship between moving and resisting powers and speeds that was both a brilliant application of mathematics to motion and also a tolerable interpretation of Aristotle's text. Two controversial problems in the medieval science of motion concerned the acceleration of falling bodies and the continued motion of projectiles.
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- Information
- The Cambridge History of Science , pp. 404 - 435Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013